Myanmar government, rebels to hold peace talks in May

Myanmar will hold peace talks next month aimed at ending decades- long ethnic wars that have intensified since Aung San Suu Kyi’s party took power a year ago, it was announced Tuesday.

Negotiators for the ethnic groups want the talks, which were pushed back from February due to a surge in fighting and political backbiting, to broach the issue of a federal power arrangement.

Ethnic fault lines have fractured the nation since it gained independence from Britain in 1948 and Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, has made peace a priority of her government.

But she has made little progress in sealing a peace deal since the first round of the socalled “21st Century Panglong” talks were held last year.

Clashes between the army and insurgents on Myanmar’s eastern borders have since reached their worst point in decades, sending tens of thousands fleeing their homes.

Government spokesperson Zaw Htay said the next round of talks would begin on May 24 and last five days.

Col Khun Okka, an ethnic negotiator, said they would aim to flesh out the key issue of what a new national federal system could look like.

“If we can lay out the basic agreement on a federal system, I can say it would help a lot,” said Khun Okka, chairman of the Pa- O National Liberation Organization.

Discontent with Suu Kyi’s government has been growing among ethnic minorities, some of whom say she is working too closely with the military that ran the country for almost 50 years.

Under the constitution the army still controls a quarter of parliamentary seats and the ministries of borders, home af- fairs and defense.

Suu Kyi’s NLD party lost several seats to ethnic parties in byelections last month that were seen as a test of her popularity after a year in office.

“Ethnic people are not interested in the peace process as there has been a lot of fighting since the first meeting,” said Sai One Lang Kham, an MP from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy.